A Prince's Diary
by Pollux Unbound
Summary: Someone left his diary at the rooftop where Youhei and the others get hold of it. It reads Dear Page 1,Everything sucks. Except him. He rocks. And me too, I rock. Together we rock.Then the Guntai explode with laughter
1. Default Chapter

**A Prince's Diary**

**Written by**: Pollux, co-authored by Night Strider

**Disclaimer**: We don't own SD boys, Inoue does. The events that follow are not included in the original plot but enjoy anyway.

**Summary**: Somebody left his diary in Shohoku's roof top. Apparently, the owner is in love. Youhei and company get hold of it and within a day, it has become a sell out. Who could be the owner? And his love, who is it?

Chapter I

Some time somewhere in Shohoku's windy roof top...

"Did you see Miyagi's face? What a glum. Bet you two thousand bucks he's been downed by Ayako again." It was Noma, moustache boy.

A kind of snorting laughter roared like a series of snickers from a pack of hyenas.

"Nobody's betting on it, so go speak for yourself. But I'll bet for the millennium comet to show up right now. Hey, Takamiya what time is it?" Youhei turned to the round boy; literally round, mind you.

"Two thirty on the dot. Is a comet really coming?" Takamiya asked back.

"Yeah. Nine hundred and thirty four years from now. Hey, what's up Okuusu? I thought you were sharing something about that Shisataka boy who's hitting on Ami?" Youhei popped the question.

"Oh. Nearly forgot about that. Anyway, yesterday I was shitting in the second floor CR since the freshmen's restroom was all packed with-"

"You can skip that."

"Right you are. I was sitting on the toilet bowl like this," squatted in a motion to reenact, "then I was sweating really bad like the fountain in front of Yisha Mall so I fetched a tissue that was nearby the door's lock-"

Guntai started to leave.

"Alright, alright. I heard Shisataka asking one of Ami's friends about her landline. Said his sister's celebrating her eighteenth birthday and there will be a ball. So Shisataka's planning to get Ami as his date in this party." Okuusu sighed, finally recognizing the others' irritation.

Guntai halted.

"Interesting. What about you, Takamiya? I thought you were keeping an eye on some Fukushu guy who's stalking this junior high girl in Xiasara School?" Youhei turned to the fat boy who scratched his head to indicate slight frustration.

"No leads. Haven't seen the girl myself. But Fukushu is hard hit for sure. She's probably a hottie." Takamiya shook his head.

"Uhmmm. Keep an eye on that. Our Busted's Guide is still half empty. We should fill it up before the semester ends." Youhei said seriously. Busted's Guide was a manual authored by the Guntai; it was practically a list of couples who broke up, guys turned down by girls and vice versa, and of course some unconfirmed and proven rumors of who liked who and vice versa. In short, some other people's love life.

"Don't boss us around, crackhead. You haven't even contributed anything yourself.' Noma snapped in annoyance. 'Why, you have nothing for three days."

Youhei ignored him and headed listlessly to the far off area of the roof top. He stopped at the middle and bent down. He found something; a pink hard-bound notebook that had been catching his eye all the while. He flipped the cover page open to be greeted by a manuscript about...

Dear Page 1,

Basketball practice was a little sloppy. But of course I didn't suck. I made 21 baskets this time and scarred everybody's ass by my deadly slams.

School sucks. Girls suck. Teachers suck. Day sucks. Weather sucks. My chair sucks. My locker sucks. My jersey sucks. Everything sucks. Everybody sucks. Except him. He rocks. And me too, I rock. Together we rock.

He looks so sexy, too hot and too cool all the same. He smiled at me. I just looked back. He winked at me when we won; again I just looked back. He gave me a high five when I blocked a shot; I gave him one anyway. He asked if he could drink in my water jug. I just nodded. His toothpaste is mint orange. Mine is strawberry, extra sweet.

Love?

(unsigned)

Youhei sweat-dropped despite the strong cool air. He slammed the book, sighed in disbelief, and patted his forehead to make sure he wasn't dreaming. The diary was dated 3 months ago. He went back to his friends who were sitting Indian style in a semi circle; apparently they were about to fall asleep. Then they noticed that Youhei's smile was reaching his short side burns like a maniac. They jumped out of their sleepiness and looked eagerly at their friend.

"Look what I've got, boys. Uhmmm, tasty like a cotton candy, and pink as one too." Youhei sniggered while waving the poor thing up in the air.

The three rushed around Youhei. After reading the first page they began to roar with the loudest laughter that was ever heard on that roof top.

"What a moron! This has gotta be the cheesiest thing I've encountered, except perhaps for my mom's lasagna. Hahaha."

"Damn. Come on, let me see the next entry. You can stuff me in a coffin if he/she hasn't raped the guy yet!"

"No, wait. He/she writes like a second grader...are you sure this isn't some grade school journal?"

"It's probably some English assignment or project..."

Then...

"I'm sure it's owned by someone in Shohoku Basketball team. That's that."

"Oh." The three shot an OK-we-see look at Youhei.

And so the four fortunate friends found the most awesome, most cryptic information kept inside Shohoku Basketball Team's history. And it was on the rooftop, mind you. Who could be hanging out frequently in this remote place to write on his diary anyway?

TBC

A/N: I have collaborated once again with my former partner, Night Strider. So if the sentence construction is a little different, don't wonder; it's most probably her words. Anyway, school's starting again so we're trying (really hard) to work out the resolution as soon as possible. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter II

A/N: Hi! Thanks to the reviewers. I'm with Night Strider again. School's currently on hold so we're partying with fics. OK, on with it.

Chapter II

A page per day. That was the rule for this. The guntai didn't make a fuss getting ahead of the story.

The next morning found the friends and Sakuragi in an empty classroom.

"What the hell is it this time, guys?" The red head threw furtive glances at his suspiciously happy friends upon plopping himself on a desk.

The four surrounded Sakuragi and Youhei, for his part, slammed the diary in front him.

"What's this? A gift for me? My birthday's not till three months to go." Sakuragi said disinterestedly.

"No, dumbhead. Read it." Takamiya spat, still smiling idiotically.

Sakuragi shot a dubious glance at the grinning four and poured over the book.

"Stop at the end of the second entry; third page's for tomorrow." Youhei warned his friend.

Sakuragi read the 1st page before going straight to the next one.

Dear Page 2,

Math teacher got mah head swiped with a board eraser. What a sucker.

Practice game is not so cool. He got tired too soon and went home too soon. He's still cool. So am I. I'm cool. Together we look so cool.

He said goodbye to me and smiled. I just waved back. Wanted to say I…whatever.

Went home early too; no reason to stay anymore. He was gone. Wanted to follow him but he was gone too fast.

Love?

Unsigned

"Who's the teacher who whacked him with a board eraser?" Sakuragi asked lazily as he dropped the diary on the desk.

"Who the fuck cares?"

"Then why am I reading this shit?" Sakuragi asked.

"Of all things that the accursed notebook implies, why d'you have to ask for the most pointless clue? I mean, you could've gone curious about who the owner is or who the guy's love is instead." Youhei snapped disappointedly; Sakuragi's being retarded as usual.

"You guys are dead boring. You take interest in a pathetic pink notebook, containing pathetic entries of a pathetic low-life ogling over a pathetic someone who's possibly as pathetic as he is-"

"Hey, can't you read? The owner's probably from the basketball team, and we're finding out who it is. Now if you excuse us, we're on our way to the gym. And mind you, we're not going there to watch you." Takamiya said, mortally offended.

"Sorry pal, I'm with him." Youhei said, tapping the redhead's shoulder as the guntai turned to leave.

"We-wait a minute! What did you just say?"

"I'm with him."

"Not you dummy."

"You're probably not interested. Besides, we gotta run." Noma said snobbishly

"I'm coming." Sakuragi said and followed the boys.

At the gym, the guntai's eyes surveyed the court for possible suspects.

"Noma, keep an eye on Miyagi...no, scratch Miyagi; keep an eye on Chinese boy Yasuda and that cute curly-haired freshman." Youhei ordered, being the leader of the pack anyway, to which Noma nodded obligingly.

"You don't have to tell me. I'll watch Mitchy and, er, Glassman." Offered Okuusu.

"And you?" Youhei steered the question to Takamiya fat boy.

"I'll take Gori and Rukawa."

"No, fox is mine. You take that Shiozaki instead. He can be a suspect for all we know." Youhei said seriously which resulted to Takamiya snorting like a disturbed pig.

"That leaves me with foxy and... er Hanamichi, you sure you er, do not keep a pink diary, perhaps-" Youhei sweat dropped while implicating what appeared to him a possibility.

"No, it's too a goddamn minute-are you suspecting-"

"No! uh, I was just, er, asking. Yeah that's it. Maybe you should go change in the locker room because I can feel two gorilla eyes trying to rip you apart."Youhei stuttered and pushed the red head to the gym.

Minutes of careful observation was anything short of a conclusion; too many players were sticking an eye on somebody and watching everybody. There was Kogure who was checking the progress of Kuwata the freshman. On the other side was Gori, training Shiozaki. There was, of course, Miyagi having a one on one with Yasuda. However,

Mitsui was slouching off on a chair in some corner and his eyes were somewhere off beyond those high ceilings and thick walls. He was probably running out of stamina as usual and decided to regain it later. About 2 seats away was Rukawa, who for some reason, was taking a rest too. But his head was turned in some other direction that it would be unjustifiable to suspect him of scoring on Mitsui. Maybe…

The guntai gathered for a meeting to share the results of their love espionage. At the back of the building, they formed a circle and laid open the pink diary to support their evidences.

"I bet it's Kuwata; he's hitting on Yasuda." Noma whispered flatly. From that tone anyone could say that he was certain.

"No, you haven't even shot a glance at Kogure who just kept on glimpsing at the tired Mitchan." said Okuusu in protest.

"Well, sure you two? What a dumby. I'll send myself to the gallows if it isn't Gori who's itching for Shiozaki." Takamiya proffered with an even surer voice than the two's.

"Wait, let's not jump into conclusions here; we're not performing this mission for mere assumptions, right? So let's deliberate; your findings are no more credible than some silly accusations that say that a cat is a duckling. What I'm trying to say is that when something quacks, then it must be a duck…and the owner is Rukawa and he likes…he likes everyone in that stadium." Youhei declared without a trace of doubt; his face was set as that of Moses when he raised the arc of the covenant.

"Fuck you. You're the dumbest thing ever. How can you come up with such bull crap-"

"But you haven't heard my theory, have you?" Youhei started with the deepest stroke of sarcasm imaginable. "Well let me tell you then, Mr. Geniuses; the lovesick foxy boy's entries vary each day depending on who the subject is. I say, every page is every boy and yes, he likes everyone there!" Youhei shouted and flew his fingers to point at the stadium.

"Preposterous! What a load of bullcrap. Kill yourself so you may take with you your sick theories." Everybody shouted back.

"Why, what's your alternative? Any theory smarter than that, huh?" Youhei blared to defend his stand.

"How about this; don't think like a retard. Who the hell do you think would buy that? Why can't we just keep our conclusions to ourselves and then let's check our progress as we get further in the diary? I mean, eventually it will come up and don't you say he likes everyone there…it's stupid." Takamiya said seriously, which was quite odd.

"OK. Fine. Do whatever you like." Youhei said in staccato.

And they moved away from the stadium to find amusement somewhere. As they walked their way to the entrance of Shohoku, a tall someone with spiky hair was parking his bicycle on the parking lot.

Akira Sendoh had come to visit someone from Shohoku's basketball club.

TBC

A/N: OK, here we are again making insane plot twists that get everyone in a tight tangle. Hehehe. But we're trying to fix this on time since I have a feeling this will be as crazy as the other fics we've worked on. Thanks for reading. Ciao!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III

"What's up, Sonic? Looking for Tails?" Youhei asked.

"Oh, I've come to have a word with Akagi. I hope he's not busy." Sendoh replied casually.

"He's at the stadium, busying himself with Shiozaki." Takamiya pointed out nonchalantly.

"I see...Well, thanks then," Sendoh smiled and headed for the gym.

Youhei started to leave as if nothing interesting took place.

"Where are you going now?" Oukusu asked disbelievingly.

"Pachinko."

"You're the one who suggested that we are to monitor everything that goes on in the stadium to uncover leads as to whom the diary belongs to. Now, a potential figure has run you in the face and you're going to Pachinko? I don't believe you." Noma said, trying to look disgusted. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Hey, potential figure you say? The owner of that diary is clearly someone from the Shohoku team, and the object of his desire is likewise. Tell me, how, in this tangled web of events, could Sendoh be involved in this?" Youhei eyed them one by one as a history teacher would in the vague hope of planting logic in his students' brains.

"..."

So the Guntai decided to call it a day; after all, they had had their share of the tedious work.

At the stadium,

"Oh, I think that's another good opportunity for our team mates."

"And mine too." Sendoh said, smiling amicably.

"Ten thirty on Thursday it is."

The players shook hands and as Sendoh turned to leave, he remembered something,

"Before I forget, have you, by any chance, noticed anything lying on the opponents' bleachers after the last practice game?"

Akagi looked at him for a few seconds and grabbed a ball before answering,

"You should've checked your stuff before you left. But you can ask the freshmen; they polish the gym after games." he said, referring to Sakuragi and the others.

Sendoh headed towards Sakuragi.

...

On their way to the Pachinko,

"You dufus, Ryonan's been having practice games with Shohoku almost every week. In short, you can't just rule Spiky out." Noma told Youhei knowingly, to which fatty and blondie nodded in agreement.

"Good point, but you haven't been reading carefully and you certainly have been ignoring little details in that diary that provide us all the vital information. The owner mentioned they won the practice game, which means _they_ happen to be teammates." Youhei said and when he said it, he was without a trace of doubt.

The other three paused and thought for a while.

"Wait a sec, they shuffled the teams on their second practice game, remember? They even asked YOU to pick up the new practice uniforms from the shop and the teams were team A and team B! The members were shuffled, hence the name of the teams! And they've been doing that since then to improve the performances of their benchwarmers!" Ookusu exclaimed, pointing at Youhei as though he had been caught at a murder scene.

Youhei was flabbergasted.

"How could I forget…" he muttered guiltily

"Yeah, how could YOU forget," everyone else echoed in unison

They turned around and headed back to Shohoku where much of the gossip was to be sourced out.

On their way, they kept recalling the team line ups.

"Rukawa and Hanamichi were both on team A, so were Ikegami and Ryonan Gori and another Ryonan."

"Then it must be Rukawa eying the Ryonan coach! Taoka coached team A. It makes perfect sense, foxy hates Hanamichi, he hates Gorillas and he's not close with those other Ryonan boys and on top of that Taoka always likes his team to win!"

Everyone nodded, apparently considering the speculation.

"What about you Ookusu, watcha got on team B?" Youhei asked

"Well, we all know that Mitchy likes coach Anzai and he probably has made twenty one baskets on a practice game but I'm quite sure his toothpaste ain't strawberry flavored..."

"So? Anything else you can contribute, say something useful? Ooops my turn!" Noma said excitedly. 'It's Sendoh. He likes Akagi. How come we haven't noticed it before? When he was just here to see Gori, like, all the way to Shohoku which is like ten kilometers away. And what do you know, I'm a genius. Right now, he's probably looking for his beloved pink journal.' He continued.

"You're all morons. It's the other way around. It's Akagi. He's so in to Sendoh. How would Sendoh's diary end up the rooftop anyway?" Youhei was sounding like complete authority.

And they argued their way to Shohoku gym, making horrendous suggestions only cows could think possible. That's when they ran into Sendoh who seemed to have finished his business with Shohoku.

"Hey Spiky, have you been to schedule another practice game again?" Ookusu asked as if he had just run into an old pal.

"Yeah, you go and watch us; it's gonna be held here in Shohoku." Sendoh answered pleasantly.

Noma stepped up and stated in as as-a-matter-of-fact manner, 'Scheduling a practice game is one thing while looking for something you left behind is another.'

Youhei stared at Noma as though the latter had just spelled trouble when Sendoh's face lit up and said,

"Found something? My team mate asked me to mention it to Akagi but the freshmen who cleaned the gym after the game said they didn't notice anything. Well, uh, do you have it?"

"Team mate? Which team mate? Anyway what was it that he forgot to pack?" Youhei asked with great anticipation while rubbing his hands together for the goodies he was about to receive.

"Well, it's embarrassing. I wouldn't want to ruin his reputation, although it sure was careless of him...well, what is it that you found anyway? Maybe it's not the thing I'm looking for." Sendoh inquired.

"Something pink," Takamiya blurted out before anyone could stop him.

Sendoh's lips curled into a pleasant smile, with much difficulty in trying to hold back laughter. 'That may well be it, so, can I have it back?_ He_ was really worried about who might have had it, rather 'seen' it. ' He asked without a trace of embarrassment.

Ookusu, who was holding the diary and was about to take it out of his binder when Youhei grabbed his hand.

Youhei scratched his head, smiled shrewdly and stepped closer to Sendoh.

"We're not finished with it yet. Perhaps you'd like to tell us _who_ the owner of this pretty thing is."

A/N: This story is almost done and for those who read this before, we're sorry for the two-year delay. Pardon me for the grammatical errors.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

'Oh, come on! I promised not to tell!' Sendoh said in what seemed like panic. Upon closer look, he didn't seem to be taking it seriously; he was still smiling.

'Oh, you think your smile works on us too? It only works on fangirls, sorry. No tell, no gain.' Youhei said dismissively before adding, 'Come on guys, we'll figure it out by ourselves. Besides, we haven't finished 'studying' the clues yet.' And he rolled his eyes while saying so.

Sendoh's face shifted into a scandalized expression and before he could stop himself-'What the-it's-it's just a pair of filthy boxers-what clues can you gather from those?'

Guntai stopped dead.

'W-what did you just say?'

The Ryonan ace clearly did not want to repeat what he had just said. Nevertheless, as he had no other choice, he did so unwillingly and in a very low voice, 'It's just a pair of men's underwear. Why do you want to know who the owner is so badly?' Does it have something in it?' He asked with a very baffled expression drawn across his handsome face.

'A piece of underwear, you say?' Youhei asked, still not believing what he was hearing.

'Yes, boxers, like those skimpy little shorts we wear beneath our basketball shorts.' Sendoh explained patiently. 'Can I have it back?' He, again, requested.

Youhei turned his head towards the other three who looked away. It seemed that they were giving Youhei the responsibility of explaining everything to Sendoh.

'Well, there seems to be a grave misunderstanding here. What we found,' he paused, still trying to find the right words, 'is not a pair of pink boxers. It's something completely unrelated but since we have given you enough trouble by making you reveal a sick secret of one of your team mates, we'll find it for you.'

Sendoh, who was still perplexed at how seriously the Guntai were taking the situation, raised his eyebrows, 'Oh, I see. Well, thanks, I'll see you then.' And he waved his hand to say goodbye.

'What were you thinking?' Noma held Youhei's shoulders, shaking the latter after the Ryonan ace left.

'I'll tell you. Let go of me!' Youhei said coolly and continued, 'The owner of that pink underwear, as you probably have figured out, is most likely also the owner of this pink diary we have now. He's obsessed with the color pink. All we have to do is look for that underwear, show it to Sendoh and ask for ransom in the form of the owner's name.'

'The owner must be someone really close to Sendoh. Imagine mentioning it to the team captain. It's just absurd. Plus, he, we'll name him the Owner, seems to be really concerned about his pink boxers. It therefore follows it is something of value, maybe sentimental.' Noma added.

Takamiya was nodding fervently while Ookusu was silent. 'We should still not rule out Shohoku players, I mean, literally, how could this diary end up in the Shohoku rooftop?'

Everyone fell silent for a while then, 'You may be right, and you may be wrong. In any case, we have to look for that underwear; I'm itching to know who could be gay enough to actually own one.'

...

The Shohoku team had just finished practicing. Sakuragi was the last to leave because he wanted to practice his jump shots. He was about to make his 67th shot when Youhei popped out of nowhere, followed by the Guntai.

'Hanamichi, can we take a peek at the lockers? We're looking for something.' Youhei said without even looking at the redhead. His hands were already wrapped around the locker room's doorknob.

'Sure. But Ayako doesn't change there. She uses the women's toilet at the school building and if Miyagi finds out you want to-'

'Monkey. We're not gonna try and take a peek at her while she's at it. How could you even think of something like that? Moron.' Youhei snorted and the other three began snorting too as they entered the room as if they had a very important business to attend to.

At the locker room,

After a grueling search for the item, the Guntai found no luck and decided to call it a day when Sakuragi showed up at the locker room. He had just finished his foot work and was sweating all over. He had nothing on but his shorts and what seemed like a pink piece of tiny cloth hanging on his left shoulder that he used to wipe his sweat.

'HAAH!' The Guntai gasped in wild astonishment. They were all pointing at what Sakuragi was holding.

'What?' Sakuragi asked.

'Can you hold those boxers out for me to see?' Youhei asked immediately without even thinking about what he had just said.

'You pervert. Just as I thought-'

'Not the one you're wearing, moron; the one on your shoulder!' The Guntai exclaimed simultaneously

'Oh this?' Sakuragi showed it off for everyone to see, 'I found this here on the locker benches. It's really absorbent and...WHOA!' Sakuragi couldn't finish for it was indeed a pair of pink boxers, a very skimpy one for that matter. It looked almost as though it belonged to a female volleyball player.

'I'll take that. We'll explain later. See yah!' Youhei said and quickly grabbed the item, leaving Sakuragi calling for an explanation.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next day, the Guntai met up at the rooftop. Little did they know that some raven-haired someone was dozing off beside the water tank.

'OK, it's my turn to read it aloud for you.' Takamiya said excitedly, motioning to Youhei to hand him the diary.

'Here goes-'

_Dear Page 3,_

_Sempai looked very hot indeed. I wonder why I have more fangirls than he has. I wonder why **he** has more fangirls than him._

_But he didn't drink from my water jug today. Which sucks. He drank from **his **water jug. Which sucks even more. He smiled at me again. Which doesn't suck. I wanted to smile back but he might think I'm a perv. So I just stared. Which sucks._

_I think **he** likes Sempai too. I won't let that. **He** sucks. I don't. I rock, Sempai and I rock._

_Love_

Again, they exploded with laughter. Takamiya was practically rolling on the floor. Likewise, tears were already building up in the corners of Youhei's eyes.

'OK, it can't get any more ridiculous than this. This is even more comical than Sakuragi and Miyagi's busted checklist!' Ookusu said, his statement barely comprehensible between the laughter and snorting.

'And he's not the only one out there, would you believe? I didn't know that the basketball team keeps more secrets than the Egyptian pyramids.' Noma informed everyone.

'It gets complicated; I can't wait to read the next page.'

'I wonder who the other guy is though.' Ookusu volunteered, much to the others' excitement.

And they went on making comments about how cheesy the owner could get.

Rukawa stirred awake. He rose to find another spot where he could sleep.

Noma was about to offer his sarcasm regarding the latest entry they had read when he noticed that they were not alone. And just as the other three were ready to hear his pun, he pointed towards Rukawa's direction.

They all stared at the Shohoku's ace, saying nothing. Rukawa was unsurprisingly displeased to see other students sharing his favorite spot in the school building. Knowing that these students were Shohoku's most boisterous pranksters, he decided to just continue his sleep in his classroom; after all, the bell had rang.

The Guntai just continued to stare wordlessly as Rukawa made his way to the stairs. They were still silent even after the door had closed behind the ace.

A few moments had passed when Youhei turned out to be the one to commence the deliberation.

'Can it be?'

'It must be.' Takamiya answered.

'Even Sakuragi doesn't loiter around in here...' Ookuso said with sheer enthusiasm.

'I agree, we can observe for a few more days but I've heard from fangirls before that Rukawa always sleeps here on the rooftop during lunch breaks. The school bell must have startled him from sleep and left his poor diary, or something.' Noma speculated eagerly.

'That's it, then? It's solved. But... what about the boxers?' Youhei asked.

They all fell into a silent pondering. It was resolved when Takamiya suggested that they could just simply return it to Sendoh on Thursday at the practice game.

...

During class, Noma and Youhei were still talking about the accursed diary which seemed to have grown from a common interest into an obsession.

They were whispering to each other, a manner of conversation which was useless because the longer they talked, the more oblivious they became of their surroundings. As expected, it reached a point when Youhei was making noticeable gestures in the air to emphasize his points.

'But it didn't look like he was looking for it though.'

'Yeah but what's the use of looking for it when it has been gone for at least three days? Besides, we know nothing about him; for all we know, he can be that cheesy and corny and horny. I mean, it couldn't have been Miyagi or Mitchy or Megane-chan.' Noma explained.

'Yes but'- Youhei was not able to make his point because their math professor had pinched his sideburns and threw them both out of the classroom.

Seeming that nothing had happened, Youhei continued, 'Yes but if we are to make conclusions right now, that means an investigation must follow. We'll have to observe Rukawa Kaede from now on, then if we end up wrong, we'll be starting over again.'

'I don't mind. There are four of us. It won't be a difficult assignment if you ask me.' Noma answered, rubbing his moustache.

'OK. I'll go tell Ookusu and Takamiya while you start with Rukawa now.'

After school at the gym,

The team was again split in two for the practice game, where team blue was composed of Miyagi, Mitsui, Shiozaki, Kakuta and Rukawa and team red was formed by Akagi, Sakuragi, Yasuda, Kogure and that freshman with curly hair.

The Guntai observed Rukawa the whole time. As things were, it wasn't only until the end of the game that they found leads.

'Rukawa, may I have a sip?' Mitsui asked when he was already in the process of opening the freshman's jug. It seemed to be a common occurrence; the senior had always been lazy. Naturally, he found carrying an extra liter of water every day to school is such a burden. The freshman didn't mind at all; it was obvious that the senior had always been his jug's customer.

After watching what took place, the Guntai stared at each other for a very long time.

-TBC-


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A concoction of hysterical giggling and evil laughter shot across the Shohoku gym, followed by a deafening echo.

The Shohoku team stared at them for a moment, to later on return to their occupation when the Guntai gathered around in a closed circle.

'This is it. Mystery solved.' Youhei said with the sort of grin Satan would've been proud of.

'And only three days at it. I congratulate us.' Takamiya said.

'So, what now, can we read the rest of the entries? Surely there's nothing more we can juice from it.' Noma proposed with a longing expression on his face.

'You dummies.' Ookusu said lazily while shaking his head. 'There is still the third party, remember page three? The object (Mitsui) of his (Rukawa) desire also drinks from another person's water jug. And Rukawa, if he really is the owner, doesn't seem to be happy about it.' He continued, arms folded across his chest.

'Oh, yes, nearly forgot about that one. Well, we can observe, or we can read another page today for more clues. Who says 'I agree'? Youhei asked, his face lightening up even more.

'OK, fine, but only one more page and then let's observe.' Ookusu agreed.

'My turn to read, but let's find a private place.' Noma announced, after which they left the gym and headed outside to the motorcycle parking lot.

_Dear Page 4,_

_I have blue eyes and so does he. He has black hair and mine's black too. So together we look smashing. But **he** has blue eyes and black hair too. Which sucks major shit. And I think **he** likes sempai too._

_Sempai said goodbye to **him** so I said goodbye to sempai also and he waved back. I beat **him**. Sempai just said goodbye to **him** without waving._

_Love,_

'Hmm. We'll have to observe. If Mitsui drinks from someone else's jug then that someone else must be the object of Rukawa's insecurity.' Youhei said.

'Well everything seems to fall into place; Mitchy has blue eyes and black hair and so does Rukawa...only one question remains. WHO THE FUCK IS **_HE_**?' Takamiya queried, shooting his arms in the air to stress the question's importance.

'We'll have to wait for the next practice which is on Thursday with Ryonan. It's gonna be a little harder to observe. I can't think of anyone else who has blue eyes and dark hair.' Noma explained with a disappointed sigh.

'We can still check whom Mitsui will say goodbye to.' Takamiya suggested brightly.

'You're right.' Ookusu said. All at once they jumped from their seats to say goodbye to the players.

It turned out that Mitsui said goodbye to everyone; even to them.

'This is more difficult than I imagined. Why don't we just ask Rukawa who the other boy is?' Noma offered impatiently.

'Then take all the fun out of our stealthy observations?' Youhei shot back.

The Guntai went home. When Thursday arrived, they met up the gym and took their positions at the court sidelines.

The team members were shuffled, which resulted to a tight match.

They watched Mitsui closely which only annoyed and frustrated them very much because the senior had given every team mate who made a shot a high five, even those from the Ryonan. And he winked pretty often too.

After the game the Guntai collapsed on the bleachers.

'What a flirt. No wonder Rukawa's getting all horny over him.' Takamiya complained in utter irritation.

'Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if he planted Taoka a kiss on the cheek after winning.' Youhei added in exasperation.

'Well, that's Mitsui for you. Uh, I'm gonna give Sendoh his team mate's boxers.' Ookusu volunteered since he was keeping the object, after all.

'Yeah, whatever.'

Ookusu stepped up to Sendoh.

'I have it. Here you go.' The blond boy told Sendoh who was rummaging through his school bag.

Sendoh stared at him for a while and said in a very low voice, 'Can we, uh, it's kinda embarrassing to hand it to me now, maybe-'

'Baka, of course I have something to wrap it in; what, I'm not about to look like a pervy fag in front of your team...and Shohoku. Here it is.' Ookusu thrust him the item which was wrapped in a filthy jersey. 'No need to thank me.' He added finally, to commence his discussion with his friends.

Sendoh felt the cloth and squeezed it as if to check if there was something more inside. He sighed and let his head fall, making him seem very frustrated. He held his head up, regained his composure and took a deep breath. He called out to Ookusu.

'Hey! Uh, Blondie!' he called out.

Ookuso stopped on his tracks and turned around to see Sendoh walking toward his direction, almost skipping his steps.

'I-well, is this it? I mean-' Sendoh asked incoherently.

'What, that's not it? That's not your underwear? You said it was pink, right?' Ookusu asked, loud enough for everyone to hear. Just then, a buzz issued out from the crowd.

'Well, it's complicated, I-well, there's supposed to be something inside it.' Sendoh said slowly and color began to darken his complexion.

'You mean a pair of pink briefs? Sorry, that's all we got...But actually, it was Sakuragi who found that; he found it lying on the locker room's benches. He still had his sweat on it.'

'Sa-Sakuragi?...No, I mean, not a pair of briefs...' Sendoh was finding it difficult to find words. Ookusu studied him for a while then he asked,

'Well, what is it?'

"..."

'I can't help you if you're not gonna tell.' Ookusu said politely but firmly. And when Sendoh still hadn't uttered a word, he started to walk away for effect.

And then, the Ryonan ace spoke,

'It's some kind of a notebook; well, not actually a notebook, but a journal, where you write your stuff and...The truth is, this pair of boxers is mine. And I kept that journal inside this for security. Yeah, that's all. Perhaps you've seen it lying around somewhere some time ago?' the taller boy finished nervously. On the whole, he was looking almost apologetic.

Ookusu stared at him expressionlessly for a very long time before he could say, 'You're shitting me, right?'

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

'Unfortunately, I'm not _shitting_ you. Far from it.'

If Oukosu's face could get any blanker, it would've right at that moment. 'Are you saying that you're the shithead that writes those shitty entries and boggles the shit out of us?'

'What do you mean...? You didn't open it, did you?' Sendoh's eyes widened.

'Of course I did. If you must know, Hedgehog, we take your posts very seriously and with the crap you're writing, I should say you make a perfect pigeon for tabloids.'

_'We_? What do you mean by_ we_? You mean you're not the only one who knows about my diary?'

'Four of my friends including Sakuragi there already know about it. At least up to the point where you let _him_ drink on your jug. Now if you're lucky, I can just let the whole world know right at this moment.' Oukusu mocked. He seemed to have forgotten the difference between Sendoh's height and physical prowess and his.

'Wh-why would you do that?'

'Because it's fun. Duh.'

Sendoh scratched his head. He looked beyond agitation. 'That item is mine. I have the right to have it back.'

'Hmm. Let's see; that diary was lost, we found it; we have the right to keep it.'

'But...you're not ransoming it, are you?'

'A few seconds ago, no. But now that you've mentioned it, yes.'

'Oh boy. Just tell me what you want,' Sendoh said, his face brimming with entreaty.

'Right. First things first; why pink?'

It was Sendoh's face's turn to look blank.

'I like the color I suppose.'

'OK, you're the gayest thing ever.' Ookusu said trying to look disgusted while Sendoh flinched and started shooting constant glances at his sides.

An avalanche of questions swarmed into the blond boy's head and when he couldn't decide what to ask next, 'Let's take this to my firends, I've a lot to ask you regarding your stuff and it would illuminate us if _you_ yourself explain to them'

'Are you nuts? This is criminal! Why can't I just have it back and maybe, I don't know, get on with our respective lives?'

'Oh, it's that easy, isn't it? Well, let me inform you. A week ago we were minding our own business, getting on with our very private lives when suddenly your stupid diary turned up and now look at us! We can hardly focus on our studies or sleep at night or even eat!' Ookusu's voice escalated into a considerable volume. Heads turned towards their direction. Sendoh, noticing the commotion, chuckled pretentiously to present a scene in which he and Ookusu were simply goofing around.

'OK. You and your pals want to know what's up with me and my love life? Fine. I'll go tell my teammates to go on ahead without me.' Sendoh said and headed to his teammates leaving Ookusu mildly embarrassed with his behavior.

The rest of the Ryonan and half of the Shohoku players had left the gym when Sendoh came to join the Guntai. Ookusu had already explained the initial details to his friends so when the hedgehog joined the circle, Youhei and the others were grinning meaningfully.

'So Mr. Lovesick Puppy, what have you come to share for? Are you familiar with this bag of cheese?' Youhei was grinning idiotically while waving the diary in front of Sendoh. 'Wait wait, let me read just one more page to refresh your memory, here goes-'

_Dear Page 5,_

_I followed him on his way home. He used the Tanaka detour. Which is 11 kilometers from my house. I don't mind; I can walk 100 kilometers more for him. But someone else was following us. What a bother. I turned around and saw it was **him**! On **his** pink bike. Did **he** think **he** could offer Sempai a ride? Not a chance while I'm here!_

_**Mode**: really angry. Pissed off, I'm so pissed off!_

_By the way, I learned something from Chemistry today. If you add yellow and blue, you get a different color. I'm so smart. I'm gonna call it blellow. (1)_

_Love,_

Ookusu looked as though he was suffering from epilepsy. To further Sendoh's torment, the others were pounding their fists on the floor. A great howl of laughter rumbled away inside the gym. It didn't subside until the group could hardly catch their breath. Sendoh only shook his head in both frustration and shame.

It was Noma who broke the wordless racket. 'We all know it's Mitchy but who is the third party?'

'Nice one.' Takamiya told Noma as the latter gave a high five.

Sendoh felt as though he was being surrounded by a pack of wolves. He sighed deeply, to commence the narration he so dread to impart; the life of the accursed diary.

'As you have noticed, the first entry dated back three months ago, just around the time when we had our second practice game against Shohoku. The time when Mitsui rejoined the basketball team. That was the first time I saw him.' He would pause and sigh as if wanting to abort the task of imparting his love escapades but would continue anyway noticing that the Guntai were giving their full attention. 'And from then on, without the influence of magnetism, my eyes would always fall upon him. I got to know him better when the coaches decided to shuffle the team members to create a variety of teams so that we all could get acquainted with different playing tempos, you get my drift?' The guntai nodded and motioned him to get on with the story. 'So there I was, standing in front of this bookstore, wondering where I could find a diary. As I have mentioned, I like the color pink. It's not a girl color; you see, I find it rather sexy. Moving on, almost everything I ever wrote on it was about him. So it's basically a record of my love life. He's really friendly; he would say goodbye to me, drink from my jug, give me high fives and all even though I'm from Ryonan,' Youhei was about to interrupt but Takamiya stuffed his fist in the former's mouth. Sendoh continued, 'You've read some of the entries so I suppose you've learned that there is this _someone_ else.' The guntai inched closer to Sendoh so as not to miss a single syllable, 'As you can tell, my _moments_ with Sempai were very special and I couldn't help grinning whenever things of that sort took place. But what I really couldn't ignore were the two cold eyes drilling holes in me whenever I share these _moments_ with Sempai. Guess whose eyes they were.' Sendoh finished and left the question for the Guntai to answer.

'Who?' The Guntai asked in unison, apparently so anxious to hear the answer. They closed in on Sendoh even more tightly that their cheeks were all rubbed together. Sendoh stared at them one by one which just elevated their anticipation into a ridiculous level. This went on util a ringing silence ensued.

'Guess who.' A cold voice broke through their silence. They turned their heads to the voice's direction to see someone tall with a pale complexion standing with his arms folded across his chest, looking like a total bitch.

It was Kaede Rukawa.

-TBC-


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The raven-haired boy locked his eyes on Sendoh, who returned the look with equal amount of animosity.

The Guntai stared at them, excitement and confusion sweeping them away.

When the volume of hatred became too great for the atmosphere to handle, the porcupine head sighed deeply to prepare himself, but there seemed to be a restrained amusement playing on Rukawa's face.

'His eyes they were.' Sendoh nodded towards Rukawa's direction.

'Right you are.' came Rukawa's reply.

The Guntai continued to stare at them as though the two were in a movie scene. Youhei was the first one to recover,

'You-wait, all along we thought this was Rukawa Kaede's diary. It's only reasonable because we got hold of it on the rooftop. _Shohoku's rooftop_.'

'Shohoku's rooftop you say? All I know is that I brought it here two weeks ago. As I have mentioned, I used to keep it inside my pink boxers. I was to give it to Mitsui-sempai at the end of the practice but-' Sendoh couldn't continue,

'ARE YOU NUTS?' The Guntai exclaimed in unison.

'You have the guts to actually let him _read_ this? I wouldn't even _show_ this to my psychiatrist if it meant regaining sanity even if he swore on his silence!' Youhei said disbelievingly.

'Well, I'm not gonna give it to him just like that; I do have a sense of romance, I have plans...' the Ryonan ace tried to explain in defense.

Rukawa seemed to grow more and more amused as the seconds ticked. He took his chance to speak,

'Do'aho. He drinks every day from my jug. You go and top that.' was all he could say.

Sendoh couldn't help but clench his fist in rage. 'We'll see about that, you _stalking_ sonuvabitch.' And before he could add another insult, the freshman turned to his heels, slumped his bag on his shoulder and left.

'Was that Kaede Rukawa just now?' Noma asked as though he had just woken up.

'This whole thing is planting grass all over my brain. Can you, like, explain further?' Ookuso turned to Sendoh.

'OK. You have just witnessed Rukawa's desire to tear me apart. I'm not entirely sure about this but I suspect that Rukawa learned about the diary's existence and my plans about confessing to Mitsui, so he stole it. And while he was reading it on that rooftop he must have left it out of carelessness, I mean, you know him. What I'm scared of is that he's probably also planning on stealing my _plans.'_

'When you say 'steal my _plans' _do you mean in the sense that he'd use your strategies of declaring your love for Mitchy? And when I say 'declaration of love', you _don't _mean in the sense that you'd give Mitchy your diary? Or do you?' Noma asked as though trying to knock some sense on a very stupid individual.

'Well, if you have anything to suggest I'd be willing to listen.'

The night reached its darkest summit and Sendoh would never have thought he'd stay long after dark. Surprisingly he found the Guntai's company somehow easing.

'I know Rukawa's always been competitive but I never thought he'd be competitive in a cruel or evil manner.' Takamiya observed.

'There's just no two ways about it. I couldn't have left my diary; I was checking on it every minute, I mean _every_ minute. I may not be altogether correct in my accusation but... who else could've had any motive?'

'Yes, I'm sure you're right. What happened just now pretty much confirmed it all. Rukawa stole that diary.' Noma said seriously before adding, 'What are you gonna do about it?'

They didn't know how much time went by while waiting for the hedgehog to answer. For all they knew, it might have been 30 seconds, minutes maybe.

'Well, how about this, let us read the rest of the diary and criticize it and make fun of it, and then we'll decide if we'll help you. Sounds good, ne?' Takamiya suggested.

'Why are you all ganging up against me? First, there's Rukawa and now-'

'OK. We were just kidding. We'll help you win Mitsui.'

'...OK. Thanks. Hey, it's getting late. I'll be going now. And may I have my diary back?' Sendoh asked. He bit his lower lip and held out his hands to receive what was rightfully his.

The Guntai exchanged a variety of looks. In time, after what seemed like an hour, they handed the diary back to Sendoh.

'Thanks. Really kind of you guys. And, I'll sure be facing Rukawa someday and be confronted by this rivalry, I mean, the off-court one. But if it so happens that Sempai chooses him, I, I-'

'He won't choose him, we'll see to that'

'Thanks again'

-TBC-

A/N: Pardon me for the grammatical errors


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Slam Dunk and its characters; Takehiko Inoue does.

**Note**: I am sorry for the delay. thanks for reading and reviewing

"Youhei, what's your plan?"

"Huh?"

"How do we help hedgehog? He seems really serious about Mitchy, and to cap it all, this may turn out to be our biggest gig yet! Putting them together!" Takamiya hooted excitedly.

"You think so? Rukawa doesn't seem like he's gonna loosen his grip anytime soon, nor easily for that matter." Youhei said problematically.

"That's why we have to do something about him; lock him in the toilet, kidnap him, hogtie him and stick him around the flag pole… anything."

"Does he really have to be the antagonist here? I mean-"

They all shot a nasty look at Youhei.

"Seriously, Mito, are you even asking us to do this crime? Pffft!"

"Fine. What do you geniuses propose?"

"That's what we're asking you, dummy."

"Hmmm. I don't have a good background in match-making but how about we let them take the stage and we, the front row seats."

"…" No one dared to speak. Well, not for the moment. Not until they recovered coherent thinking,

"What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Saying?"

"Let's just watch the turn of events. The floor is theirs. " Youhei answered flatly.

"Hey you're the one who promised hedgehog you'd help him."

"Yeah. And you know what they say about promises; they're meant to be broken."

"Fine. You stay out of this from now on. We'll figure out a way to get them together and when it happens, you're not gonna be there to witness the greatest love story in the making." Takamiya said indignantly.

"…"

"Let's go guys." Takamiya announced, to which Ookuso and Noma followed almost immediately after throwing a disgusted look at Youhei.

Far away from their knowledge, Youhei Mito was to turn the tangled love affair into a very cinematic, motion-picture caliber drama.

He figured it out. The Guntai could manage very little creativity in his absence. Youhei Mito was after all, their leader. He hid behind the trash bin, snorting at the unpleasant odor of its contents and at the same time missing quite a number of pieces of the conversation. There was Hisashi Mitsui, non-suspecting and minding his own business when Takamiya and Noma arrived in the scene to ambush the senior in his little activity. He heard these important lines anyway:

"Meet him at six p.m. at the rooftop." The fat boy insisted in a demanding tone.

"And why would I do that?" Mitsui asked in a reserved tone which was accompanied by an air of utter confidence.

"Secret admirer's gonna reveal himself; you don't wanna miss on that."

Mitsui assumed a pensive state. "Fine. Six p.m. tomorrow. Got it."

At that, without lingering on for another minute, Youhei sped of to first year class 10. He soundlessly slipped past the sliding door and crouched behind Rukawa Kaede's desk. He wrinkled his nose at the sight of the super rookie's drool that had pooled on the uneven surface of his desk. The Shohoku ace was sleeping the class away, possibly dreaming of a certain three-pointer. Now Youhei was tugging the sleeve of his blouse as suspicious glares darted in their direction. And he might as well silently create imaginary shapes using Rukawa's drool; that might have more effect in waking the rookie up.

"Rukawa," he whispered against the rookie's ear, almost touching it with his lips. He pronounced the name repeatedly and slyly to avoid the professor's attention.

Mission: Impossible

Not quite, so,

"There's Mitsui-san!" Youhei yelled, his voice shot halfway down the corridor.

Instantaneously, if not simultaneously, Rukawa, in incredible abruptness, propped his head up as if snapping out of hypnosis and muttered in a clear, monotonous undertone, "Where?"

The professor aborted his occupation of scribbling what Youhei saw as meaningless shit on the blackboard and turned to come face to face with the culprit.

"What do you think you're doing here, Mito?" his voice sounded like a thunder.

"I-er, I'm waking Rukawa up." Youhei answered lamely. The room continued to buzz.

"What are you doing loitering around in another classroom during class hours?"

"Sitting here—I mean, sitting in, yeah, I'm a sit-in student."

"OUT! You and Rukawa, out, now!"

And they were both thrown out of the classroom.

Rukawa let his eyes wander around what seemed to him as a cavernous corridor. Upon finding nothing of his interest, he asked, "Where's sempai?"

"At the roof top at six p.m. …_tomorrow_." Youhei answered.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Be there. He'll be waiting for _you_."

While at the same time in Ryonan High…

"Shohoku rooftop?" Sendoh asked in dismay.

"Yeah. Six p.m. Anything more romantic than that would cost you 800 yen." Ookusu said blankly.

"Ok… six p.m. it is. Tomorrow, the decisive day,"

And so came the next day. The clock struck six p.m. on the dot. With the arrangement in play, at the Shohoku rooftop it was a scene of much hilarity, or was it foreboding chaos? What with Ookusu, Noma and Takamiya hiding behind the broiler room with mouths gaping in idiotic excess, whispering, hissing and cursing at each other,

"What the fuck is Rukawa doing here?"

"This is your fault; you know he hangs around here all the time!"

"What, it's my fault now? I knew, yeah fine whatever as you fucking say, but didn't you?"

"Shut it, Noma, this was your idea!"

Three tall boys, all with black hair and blue eyes faced each other, forming a triangle. Two of them were staring with longing eyes at one target and throwing murderous glares at one another.

And somewhere in a safe distance, Youhei was hanging in a balance, his right arm strapped around the ladder of the water tank, his free hand locked mercilessly around his mouth, suppressing laughter. His ears were perked up and wildly alert as his amusement elevated itself in its moment in history. He assiduously restrained a fit of giggles in fear of missing a single word. Anyone could easily mistake him for a lunatic.

"They didn't tell me I had two secret admirers, and big-shot ones too at that." Mitsui started, his fascination working up on a higher pitch as the moments passed by.

"Sempai…" two voices spoke at once.

"So... it's you two?" The senior asked in between grinning widely and shaking his head in amusement.

No one answered.

"Well…it's been nice knowing. Now if you'd excuse me, I have a practice to attend too." The handsome senior announced before stuffing his fists in his pockets and turning to his heels to make for the exit.

"Sempai, listen." Again two voices spoke the exact same words.

Mitsui stopped, sighed and shook his head, feigning regret.

"Listen, you two, this is _boring_."

Two hearts shattered into a million pieces. Two sets of lungs tightened to suppress their breathing. Two sets of eyes summoned seas of salty water. Two sets of lips trembled like rock movements beneath the ocean floor. Two worlds falling apart, slowly, painfully, only to crash into nothingness.

Ookuso, Noma and Takamiya watched and gasped in horror as the love story they 'directed' dissolved before their very eyes, disintegrating into dusts. At this very moment, however, Youhei lost his grip on the iron ladder to fall flat ass first on the concrete floor.

"Ouch." He muttered, rubbing his bottom. He looked around stupidly, blinking, chuckling apologetically, perhaps innocently, before waving at the three star players.

A set of blue eyes momentarily stared at him, transfixed. Mitsui advanced on him, lowered himself into a squat and rested his elbows on his knees, his handsome face looming only inches away from Youhei's . Rukawa and Sendoh remained still on their spots, tormented and anguished by the senior's indifference.

"Are you okay?" Mitsui asked Youhei.

"Yeah."

"Are you one of them?"

"Huh?"

"One of my admirers."

Silence. Long silence. Vey long indeed.

"There seems to be a misunderstanding here, Mitchy," Youhei tried to explain. Looking nervously at Sendoh and Rukawa, he continued, "I just fell—"

"You fell, huh? That's some style you got there."

"Huh?" the freshman shot him a puzzled look.

"So, you fell…in _love_ with me. How cute." Mitsui said, his dimples appearing on both cheeks.

"No! I fell off the ladder-"

"And what would you be doing hanging around the water tank? Expecting me to break your fall?" Mitsui asked, the corners of his lips almost touching each other around his magnificent head.

"Watching..." Youhei said shakily.

"Watching _me_?"

"Yes- I mean, watching you guys, I—"

"You've been watching me a lot lately, during practice sessions."

"We were observing! We were on a special investigation!"

"You mean to say, there are more of you out there?"

"You completely miss the point, I-"

"That's okay. I choose _you_." He gazed meaningfully at the younger boy.

Dumbfounded. Jaws dropped almost hitting the ground. 360 overhaul. Electric shock threw them all off their guards. Eyes opened widely like luminous orbs.

He couldn't answer. This wasn't what he planned. He wasn't prepared for this. Surprise of the century.

Two muscular arms from two different owners grabbed him by the shoulders; Sendoh and Rukawa were dragging Youhei away from where he was sitting.

"You'd better explain this." Sendoh muttered through clenched teeth.

"But-but all I did was-"

"Double-cross us." Rukawa 'finished' the sentence for him. His eyes were flaring beyond reasonable anger.

"Hey!" Mitsui called as the two aces simply ignored.

"Help!" Youhei would holler over and over again.

The remaining Guntai stared at each other in blank expressions. And then, slowly, they nodded to each other before popping out of their hiding place, giving away their positions.

"Guntai to the rescue!" They announced in unison.

A look of relief dawned in their ally's face.

"Kidding!" The Guntai declared and set themselves rolling off the floor with laughter.

And Mitsui was left to pry Rukawa and Sendoh's hands off Youhei… if he could, that is.

**END**

**Note**: Pardon me if it's a little confusing. What happens here is that Youhei finds it boring that Sendoh is to end up with our dear Mitsui without competition or challenge. So what he does is that he inserts Rukawa in the scene hence ruining the other Guntai's plans. Unexpectedly though, Mitsui appears to be uninterested in the two aces, even more surprising is that he turns out to like Youhei and leads himself to believe that the freshman is one of his countless admirers. Rukawa and Sendoh then accuse Youhei of treachery and decide to resolve the matter by teaching him a lesson. The rest of the Guntai refuse to help because Youhei is indeed a naughty boy haha.

And yeah, it would be highly unfair if Mitchy ended up with either Sendoh or Rukawa.

This is pretty much the ending Night Strider and I agreed upon to start with, I'm not really sure about the delivery though because I wrote this last chapter alone and after typing it I asked Strider's opinion, she seemed okay about it, I hope you're okay with it too.


End file.
